Vehicle for transporting and weighing metallurgical vessels

ABSTRACT

THE INVENTION RELATES TO A RAIL-SUPPORTED TRANSFER VEHICLE FOR METALLURGICAL VESSELS WHICH INCLUDES MEANS FOR WEIGHING THE LOAD SUPPORTED THEREON. ACCORDING TO THE INVENTION THE VEHICLE COMPRISES A DOUBLE-FRAME CONSTRUCTION, I.E. A LOWER FRAME SUPPORTING THE TRAVELING MECHANISM AND AN UPPER FRAME ADAPTED TO HOLD THE LOAD AND NORMALLY RESTING ON SAID LOWER FRAME. THE WEIGHING MEANS ARE ARRANGED IN A CAVITY FORMED BY CORRESPONDING RECESSES IN THE UPPER AND LOWER VEHICLE FRAMES AND ARE OPERABLE ON SEPARATION OF SAID FRAMES BY EXTENSIBLE LIFTING MEANS MOUNTED IN VERTICAL ALIGNMENT WITH SAID WEIGHING MEANS AND PREFERABLY IN AXIAL ALIGNMENT WITH THE WHEELED TRUCKS OF THE VEHICLE.

United States Patent [1113,587,760

[72] Inventors Othmar Puhringer 439,217 10/1890 Wanamaker 177/141X Linz;923,240 6/1909 Bradford 177/209 Karl Holik, Vienna, Austria 925,2826/1909 Bradford vvvv 177/141X [211 App]. No. 816,240 1,254,335 l/1918Malensheck 177/209X [22] Filed Apr. 15, 1969 1,579,658 4/1926 Pugh177/141 [45] Patented June 28,1971 2,020,307 11/1935 Fitch 177/141X [73]Assignee Vereinlgte Osterreichische Eisen-und 2,962,276 1 1/1960Thurston 177/21 1X slahlwerke Aktiengesellsehafl FOREIGN PATENTS Lonz,Austria t Priority Apr-17,1968 416,063 9/1934 Great Brita n 177/141 [33]Austria Primary Examiner-- Robert S. Ward, Jr. [31 A37 17/68 Attorney-Brumbaugh, Graves, Donohue and Raymond [54] VEHICLE FOR TRANSPORTING ANDWEIGHING METALLURGICAL VESSELS 5 Claims, 3 Drawing Fig5 ABSTRACT: Theinvention relates to a rail-supported transfer vehicle for metallurgicalvessels which includes means for [52] US. Cl 177/141, weighing the loadSupported thereon According to the inven 177/146, 177/155, 177/163,177/209 tion the vehicle comprises a double-frame construction, i.e. a[51] Int. Cl G0lg 19/04, lower frame pp g the traveling mechanism and anpp 601g lglm'Golg 23/02 frame adapted to hold the load and normallyresting on said [50] Field of Search 177/163, lower frame. The wdghingmeans are arranged in a cavity 146,153,145,141,208,209,211,25 2 formedby corresponding recesses in the upper and lower vehicle frames and areoperable on separation of said frames [56] References (med I byextensible lifting means mounted in vertical alignment with UNITEDSTATES PATENTS said weighing means and preferably in axial alignmentwith the 439,215 10/1890 Wanamaker 177/141X wheeled trucks of thevehicle.

I X, //I// V/ ,l .v 6 1 -15,

PATENTEU JUH28 IEJYI Nat W W mmm m INVENTORS OTHMAR PUHRINGER 8 BY KARLHOLIK W% #M their ATTORNEYS VEHICLE FOR TRANSPORTING AND WEIGHINGMETALLURGICAL VESSELS The invention relates to a vehicle fortransporting and weighing metallurgical vessels such as ladles, bucketsand the like.

In metallurgical plants it is frequently necessary to determine theweight of various materials, hot liquid or solid, before they arefurther processed. For this purpose it has been known to weigh atransport vehicle with the container of the material on a weighingmachine arranged in the basement, e.g. on a platform balance. With railtransport vehicles, the track ways have to be interrupted at theplatform balance. This known method has the disadvantage that owing tothe great empty weights (tare weights) resulting from the weight of thetransport vehicle and the weight of the container, the accuracy of theweighing result is'impaired. Furthermore, a weighing machine can easilybe damaged if it is arranged below the floor level of the steel works;it can be destroyed by splashing cut slag or by an emergency tapping ofhot metal. Therefore, it is impossible to weigh a vessel while it isbeing filled with hot metal. If a stationary balance is used it has tobe positioned at the greatest possible distance from the converter.Until now it has not been possible to meter a material during theweighing process.

The invention aims at avoiding these disadvantages and dif ficulties andhas as its object to enable a satisfactory and safe determination of theweight of materials used in metallurgical plants, inclusive of hotmetals; it is a particular object of the invention to provide for atransport vehicle with a built-in, safe weighing means.

According to the invention this problem is solved by the provision of avehicle comprising a lower carriage carrying the traveling mechanism andan upper carriage arranged thereon and having a load platform or thelike, a pressure-measuring and load-weighing device being arrangedbetween the upper carriage and the lower carriage, which device isoperable for weighing a load by means of a preferably hydraulic liftingdevice for the upper carriage, said lifting device being supported onthe one hand against the pressure-measuring device and on the other handagainst one of the carriages.

Owing to the arrangement of the weighing device in protected positionbetween the upper carriage and the lower carriage the mechanical partsof the weighing device are not damaged by the inertia forces occurringduring starting and braking of the vehicle, and the measuring resultremains accurate.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the upper carriageand the lower carriage are each composed of a frame with longitudinaland cross beams, a downwardly open recess being provided in the cornersof the upper carriage frame and an upwardly open recess in the cornersof the lower carriage frame, said recesses complementing each other toform a cavity closed to the outside and situated in a vertical planeabove the bearings of the front and rear wheels and their rockers,respectively, a pressure-measuring device and a lifting device beingarranged in each cavity.

Suitably, the longitudinal beams of the upper carriage have a boxlikedesign so that they enclose the longitudinal beams of the lowercarriage.

According to another preferred embodiment of the invention the recessescomplementing each other to form a cavity and containing thepressure-measuring device and the lifting device, are, on the one end ofthe vehicle, arranged to be indisplaceable in respect of each other inhorizontal direction and thus form a fixed bearing, preferably in a waythat the fitting faces of the recesses are designed to be slantingtowards the horizontal line.

The division of the vehicle into an upper carriage and a lower carriageaccording to the invention offers great functional advantages. The lowercarriage containing the wheel bearings and the rocker bearings,respectively, determines the wheel base and the gauge. The uppercarriage carrying the load is, functionally, a bridge which is supportedagainst the lower carriage during transportation. By arranging theweighing device and the lifting device in a vertical plane above thewheel bearings and rocker bearings, respectively, the lower carriage isloaded with tensile and compressive forces only, whereas the uppercarriage accommodates the bending forces. By designing one of thebearings with which the upper carriage is supported on the lowercarriage as a fixed bearing and the other bearing as an expansionbearing the advantage is gained that changes in length occurring on theframe portions as a result of temperature influences do not impair theaccuracy of the weighing result.

The weighing device is loaded only during the time of weighing, when theupper carriage is lifted by means of the lifting device. Aftercompletion of weighing the upper carriage is lowered upon the lowercarriage, measuring device is out of operation and is protected againstdamage and soiling as well as against exposure to heat by the abuttingwalls of the recesses of upper carriage and lower carriage.

In order that the invention may be more fully understood an embodimentthereof will now be described with reference to the accompanyingdrawing, in which FIG. I is a side view of the vehicle in travelingposition, FIG. 2 is a top view of the vehicle according to FIG. 1, andFIG. 3 is a sectional view through the upper and lower carriages inweighing position.

The vehicle consists of the lower carriage l and the upper carriage 2.On the upper carriage 2 a load platform is arranged on some otherreceiving means suitable, e.g. for carrying loops 3, for the vessel 4 tobe transported. Both the upper carriage 2 and the lower carriage l havea framelike shape. The upper carriage 2 comprises the longitudinal beams5 and the crossbeams 6 and the lower carriage 1 comprises thelongitudinal beams 7 and the crossbeams 8. In the area of the corners ofthe frames recesses are provided, i.e. the downwardly open recesses 9 ofthe upper carriage 2 and the upwardly open recesses 10 of the lowercarriage 1. When the upper carriage is in its lowered position theserecesses complement each other to form a cavity 1 1 which is closed tothe outside, and ofwhich there are four in total, of FIG. 2. In eachcavity 11 a pressure or load-measuring device 12 is provided, in theembodiment shown in the recesses 9 of the upper carriage, as well as alifting device, preferably hydraulic jacks 13, which, in the embodimentshown, are supported against the lower carriage on the one hand andagainst the pressure-measuring device on the other hand. When thehydraulic jacks are retracted, the upper carriage is supported on thelower carriage, i.e. on the one end (front end) of the vehicle by meansof sliding plates 14, representing an expansion bearing, and on theopposite end (rear end) by means of bevelled fitting faces 15 slantingtowards the horizontal line, representing a fixed bearing. Transverselyto the traveling direction, the upper carriage is held by trapeziformguide blocks 18, which, when the upper carriage is lowered, engage incorresponding recesses of the lower carriage. In its lowered positionthe upper carriage is, therefore, completely fixed on all sides to thelower carriage and the pressure-measuring device is free from load.Inertia forces caused by acceleration, braking or shocks do not have anyinfluence upon the weighing device. When the upper carriage is lifted bymeans of the hydraulic jacks 13, as shown in FIG. 3, the load pressureacts upon the weighing device so that it starts to operate, this, ofcourse, for a short time only.

The lower carriage 1 carries the traveling mechanisms 16, which aresuitably mounted by means of a rocker. The rocker bearing 17 is arrangedvertically below the pressure measuring device 12 of FIG. 3, and belowthe hydraulic jacks 13, to afford the static advantages as pointed outhereinbefore. The upper carriage 2 represents a bending force support;the lower carriage I has to accommodate only tensile and compressiveforces in horizontal direction. It connects the driven bogie car withthe nondriven one. The longitudinal beams 5 of the upper carriage may bedesigned, as shown in FIG. I, as boxlike carriers, enclosing thelongitudinal beams 7 of the lower carriage.

When a pressure-measuring and load-weighing device is used which cannotaccommodate transverse forces, the upper carriage has to be guided in anabsolutely vertical direction so that no skewing occurs which mightimpair the weighing result. For this purpose bending guides made of leafsprings may be inserted between the upper and lower carriage. Suitablythey are arranged side by side in a staggered manner between the jacks,i.e. in the four longitudinal parts.

We claim:

l. A railway vehicle for transporting and weighing metallurgicalvessels, comprising a lower carriage carrying a traveling mechanism andan upper carriage mounted on said lower carriage and adaptedto hold avessel, a pressure-measuring and load-weighing device being arrangedbetween said upper and lower carriages, said device being operable forweighing a load by lifting means for said upper carriage, supported onthe one hand against said pressure-measuring and weighing device on theother hand against one of said carriages.

2. A railway vehicle for transporting and weighing metallurgicalvessels, comprising a lower carriage supporting rocker mounted truckswith bearings for wheels, an upper carriage adapted to hold a vesselmounted on said lower carriage, a weighing device arranged between saidupper and lower carriages, and hydraulic lifting means interposedbetween one of said carriages and said weighing device, said weighingdevice being exposable to load for weighing by said lifting meansextending to lift said upper carriage off said lower carriage, saidupper and lower carriages each comprising a rectangular frame oflongitudinal and cross beams, a downwardly open recess being provided inthe corners of said upper carriage frame and an upwardly open recessbeing provided in the corners of said lower carriage frame, saidrecesses complementing each other to form a cavity closed to the outsideand situated in a vertical plane above said wheel bearings and rockers,each cavity housing a weighing device and a lifting means.

3. The vehicle set forth in claim 2, wherein said longitudinal beams ofsaid upper carriage have a boxlike design so that they enclose thelongitudinal beams of said lower carriage.

4, The vehicle set forth in claim 2, wherein, on one end of the vehicle,the abutting surfaces of said complementary, cavity-forming recessesengage each other to prevent any horizontal displacement, thus forming afixed bearing.

5. The vehicle set forth in claim 2, wherein said upper carriage in itslowered position is held by trapeziform guide blocks engaging incorresponding recesses in said lower carriage.

